Conduit



EN W36. A. W. SHERWOOD CONDUIT Filed Jun 2o, 1952' '5,5 rigging sinorder to Patented May 26, 1936 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CONDUIT AaronW. Sherwood, Marietta, Ohio This invention relates to hollow tiles ordrain conduitsand thelike.

.It is an object of the present invention to provide asectional'constructionof hollow tiles or cul- 25- vertswhichisinexpensive and simple to manufacture, and which provides forassembly in the eld Without requiring 4cumbersome handlingapparatussuchfas is nowemployed inthe placing of ,heavy tiles.

Itis afurtherobjectto provide a sectional construction for tile -of thischarac-ter in which a number of concrete slabs provided withinterlocking members may be readily `formed of desired size and shape.

p Other objects and advantages will be apparent fromthe followingdescription and the accompanyingdrawing, in which Fig. lisa perspectiveview of a hollow 'tile or culvert pipe embodying the presentinvention;

Fig. 2 isa plan View of a portion of the form which is used in producing'the tile slabs;

FigfS Ais ,a -vertical sectional View on the line 3.-.3 of Fig. 2;

tvitigni-is a View of one of the tile slabs or sec 125 tions;

-Fig.' 5 isa view of a cooperating tile slab adapted to formtheadjacentsideof the finished conduit; Fig.6 is `a detail view ofinterlock at the abutting ends of adjacent sections; and

Fig. '7 is a perspective View of amodiedform of construction in which arecessed bench is provided in the side slabs.

:In the making of `concrete conduits or culverts itis at present thecustom, particularly in the case of -larger size conduits, to set up aform in the field, to place therequired reinforcing material in theform, and to pour the concrete or other material into ythe form-so thatthe entire tileor length of culvert 4is vcast integrally. Thisnecessitates 40 accurately setting up the form and removing 1t lafterthe concrete has set. It is quite difficult with such construction inactual practice to obtain -a finished conduit which is of uniform depththroughout and it is not unusual for weak spots to appear. `Thedifficulties are further increased when it is necessary to cast theconduit in mud or over a low lyingspot, as the excess of water must beremoved so as to insure the proper formation ofthe conduit.

lWhen the conduit is not formed inplace, it has been the customheretofore to lay entire sections of hollow :tile orlconduit end to end,and particularly with larger sized conduits, this has involved the useof gin poles, tripods or other temporary properly handle the heavyApplication June 20, 1932, Serial No. 618,235 2 claims. (o1. 13s-81)conduits. In many cases a single section of conduitA which must behandled in this manner weighs a half Va ton, or a ton or more, andconsequently such a massive article presents a serious problem withregard to the labor and difficulties of proper handling and its accuratepositioning.

According to the present invention the conduit lengths are made insections from fiat slabs readily interlocked together. The objectionablefeatures of the Vprior constructions have thus been successfully solvedand it -is possible to obtain a conduit of uniform high strengththroughout, regardless of the circumstances under which it must beplaced, or of the character of the soil in which it is positioned. Theweight of the separate pieces is vcomparatively small as compared to theweight of an entire section of hollow conduit so that the use ofexternal rigging apparatus is not required and the conduit can be placedby ordinary manual handling.

Referring to the drawing, which illustrates a preferred embodiment ofthe invention, there is shown at Il] a frame for constructing thesection slabsor blocks according to the present invention. This framecomprises bottom railsY II to which is suitably attached a vhorizontalplatform I2, the parts being conveniently formed of wooden planks orboards or the like.

Side rail members I3 and end rail members I4 are removably supported onthe platform I2 and they may, if desired, be located thereon in anyconvenient manner as by means of dowel pins I5. Additionallongitudinally extending members or intermediate rails I6 are laterallyspaced a distance corresponding to the width of the slabs to be formedand are removably attached to the end rails I4 as by means of a tongueand groove joint I1. Dividing boards I8 are removably attached betweenthe members I6 and the side rails, being spaced apart a dist-ancecorresponding to the lengths of the blocks tobe formed. These boards I8are likewise made removable from the platform, and, in conjunction withthe members I6, and the side and end rails, form a plurality ofindependent molds, leach adapted to receive the concrete or similarforming material and to form an independent tile side or slab.

Wedge shaped projections 2i! are provided on the side rails I3 andsimilar projections 2| are provided extending inwardly from some of themembers I6. These wedge shaped members are adapted to form mortises inthe cast slabs. Correspondingly tapered recesses 22 are formed incertain of the members I6 in order to provide tenons on the cooperatingcast slabs, permitting the ready assembly of the slabs into a compactwhole. As shown, each of the slabs comprises two mortises 25 or tenons21 on each lateral edge. It will be obvious that the slabs can be madeany desired length, and provided with any desired number of joints. Thecomplete mold provides for the simultaneous casting of a number of slabssufficient to form several complete conduit lengths, the form ofconstruction shown being so arranged as to provide several rows of fourslabs, each row producing a set of slabs or blocks for forming onecomplete hollow conduit section.

In order to form a conduit of reinforced construction, the individualsections are provided with reinforcing such as the wire netting shown at25. This may be placed in the form prior to or during the lling thereofwith concrete. Special reinforcing may be used at the positions of themortised projections. 'I'he tops of theside and end rails lie in asingle plane so `as to serve as guides for a scraper board to scrape olfthe excess concrete and to insure the production of sections of uniformcharacteristics. The walls of the several portions of the frame areslightly tapered so as to permit their withdrawal after the setting ofthe concrete.

Following the removal of the form pieces, the individual blocks areremoved and are then ready ous lengths of built up conduit may besecurely interlocked and held to one another` Fig. 6 illusdepressionsrequired.

As shown in Fig. 7, the outer edge of the main By reason of thesectional construction as herein provided, it is possible to easily setup the particular type of hollow conduit, as regards reinforcing,length, and drainage facilities, that is desired in any particularinstance. In instances where it is desirable to prevent the escape ofwater from the tively sealed by though in many cases Where the placedconduit The two side slabs 28 are then interlocked with it and the topslab applied, the wedge like or tapered character of the tenons andmortises holding the side slabs from either outward or inward movement.The next conduit section is then built up in the same way, and where theends of the adjacent sections are dovetailed together by joints such asare shown in Fig. 6 certain locked with an abutting section at the sametime they are interlocked with an adjoining side slab. SuiTcientclearance is provided at the dovetailed joints so that the slabs arevery readily moved into place.

of the invention claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A built-up conduit of tion of the character described, comprisinghoritom slabs assembled end to end therewith and adapted for assemblymerely by vertical lowering movement of one horizontal slab in extensionof the other.

2. A built-up conduit of rectangular cross section of the characterdescribed, comprising horizontal top and bottom precast concrete slabsconnected by opposed vertical precast concrete side slabs, each of saidslabs having an interlocking dovetail portio-n on each longitudinal edgethereof cooperating with an interlocking dovetail portion of anadjoining slab and assembled together to form a hollow structure eachouter and inner side of which lies in a single plane, the dovetailedportions of the top and bottom slabs having substantially vertical endfaces interlocking with substantially vertical end faces of the dovetailportions of the side slabs to prevent any outward movement of the sideslabs and to provide for assembly of the top slab upon the positionedside slabs merely by vertical lowering of the top slab, a horizontalslab of the conduit also having a dovetail interlock at a laterallyextending end thereof for engagement with an abutting slab, saidvertical side slabs each having a horizontal bench extending from thedovetail portion thereof and forming a rest for the edge of thehorizontal slabs.

AARON W. SHERWOOD.

